Nero Wolf
The Rubber Band by Rex Stout
14/03/10 15:35 Filed in: Mystery
Bantam. $15.00
Reviewed by Stephanie Attebery
Though Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe detective series was written some 70 years ago, these great stories could in many ways have been written yesterday.
The stories are told through the eyes of Archie Goodwin, the foot soldier and muscle of detective Nero Wolfe, a most eccentric sleuth. Similar to the drug-inclined Sherlock Holmes, Wolfe has his own wonderful personality flaws. He is a beer guzzling foodie (I counted 5 beers guzzled during one exchange with a client) whose athletic ability goes no further than a game of darts. Descriptions of Wolfe’s physique bring to mind that of Ignatious J Reilly the hot-dog gulping antihero in John Kennedy Toole’s Confederacy of Dunces. Wolfe is also a flower-freak and tends to thousands of orchids on the roof of his Manhattan brownstone with the help of a live-in gardener. Along with the gardener, Wolfe retains a live-in chef and Archie himself also resides with the great detective. Since the agoraphobic Wolfe will only leave his home in the most dire of situations, (it does occur in a few Nero Wolfe stories, under interesting circumstances), the brownstone and its inhabitants are described in detail and most of Wolfe’s cases are solved within it.
Thanks to Archie, the reader gets a less claustrophobic viewpoint as he travels around the city to gather clues, and though Wolfe rarely crosses his stoop, there are no shortages of visitors arriving to see him. In this particular tale, the cast of callers includes high-level corporate executives, a hierarchy of men in blue, a hottie escort-turned-secretary, an English nobleman, and a Wild-West bandit.
Without giving too much away, Wolfe is charged with solving two mysteries in this particular tale, and they become more and more enmeshed as the story goes on. There are plenty of subtle exchanges between characters that, if the reader is paying attention, will help them move along with Wolfe’s problem-solving. Even for the non-astute such as myself, the stories are enjoyable enough not to depend on solving the case.
Archie’s gruff one-liners and clever inner-monologues amuse the reader. A couple choice selections: “If looks could kill, she would have been at least a darn sick woman” on meeting their attractive client. When confronting two thugs in the brownstone’s front hallway: “I picked up the one that had stopped my knee and just used him for a whisk-broom and depended on speed and my 180 pounds. The combination swept the hall out”
The sharpest part of Stout’s story-telling is the clever dialogue and sharp chiding between Wolfe and Goodwin as they work the case.
Goodwin: “ He says it’s urgent, I’m outrageous, and he’s an old client”
Wolfe: “He is probably correct all around. I like particularly the second of his conclusions. Leave me.”
Unlike Wolfe, Goodwin soundlessly observes his boss’s various shortcomings.
“One of the darts slipped out of Wolfe’s handful, dropped to the floor, and rolled to my feet. Wolfe stood and looked at me. I knew what he wanted, I knew he hated to stoop, but stooping was the only really violent part of that game and I figured he needed the exercise. I sat tight”
In another instance after Wolfe had had a few pints “Wolfe straightened in his chair and his hand went forward by automatism, but there was no beer there. He sent a sharp glance at me to see if I noticed it, and sat back again.”
In this book, you also get a bonus story The Red Box, (one of the rare stories where Wolfe does venture outside) and what a bonus it is. If you have not yet been introduced to Rex Stout’s great detective series, now is your chance!